Melbourne basketball fans are seeking to revitalise every unused basketball hoop across the city by raising $12,000 through crowdfunding.
Senior digital media strategist Alex Woods founded the campaign, nothing but net, after a photo of him and his brother hanging a net on a hoop in Highett received hundreds of likes on Facebook.
Emboldened by this support, the brothers hung several more nets around the area and quickly became enamoured with the idea of hanging a net on every hoop in Melbourne.
“The councils used to replace nets that had been broken or stolen,” said Woods.
“But they were neglected in the 2000s due to the lack of a supporting culture in Melbourne, because basketball’s popularity declined internationally.
“While the NBA has seen a resurgence over the last five years, the same can’t be said for our neighbourhood courts and we feel the lack of nets is one of the main reasons.”
The brothers approached local councils about improving the city’s 800 or so basketball courts, but became frustrated with the lack of resources.
They expanded the funding campaign to build a mobile app, which details the city’s courts and allows users to report on their condition.
“Thanks to guys like Patty Mills and Dante Exum, Basketball in Australia is experiencing a mini resurgence. We hope, in some small way, Nothing But Net will motivate the next generation of Aussie basketball stars to get out there and play,” Woods said.
Although the brothers have already researched the condition of hundreds of courts across the city, their mobile app will allow users to identify and upload hoops that are sitting netless and neglected.
Woods said this community engagement was vital to the project’s success, not only from a funding perspective but for the future of the city’s courts.
“We’re hoping that by engaging Melbourne’s community with this project, allowing users to nickname courts through the app, the community will feel a sense of ownership over their local courts,” he said.
“We’re aware that people might steal these nets from the hoops, but I believe Melbourne’s community will rally around this initiative and police itself.”
Woods pointed to New York’s graffiti, where the community engagement and perseverance on behalf of the authorities overcame the ‘naysayers’ who believed it could never be brought under control.
The project has gained considerable support among Australia’s basketball community, with National Basketball League team Melbourne United and Australian basketball legend Bruce Bolden donating rewards to its backers.
For Woods, the project is rooted in his childhood memories of playing ball on the local netless court and hearing that one a few parks over had a net.
“Kids from suburbs around would wait in line to take turns shooting,” he said.
“The swish of the ball through a chain net is like nothing else and hearing a court had one was like Christmas.”
